Interim president takes over at Savannah Economic Development Authority

Following a unanimous vote and an enthusiastic round of applause, Trip Tollison took the reins as interim president and CEO of the Savannah Economic Development Authority Tuesday at its regular monthly board meeting.

“It’s a tremendous honor, and I’m truly humbled by the support I’ve received,” Tollison told his board. “I feel like a kid on Christmas Day.”

That said, Tollison and the board got right to work, tackling a relatively light agenda that included accepting the resignation of longtime SEDA board member Brooks Stillwell, whose appointment as Savannah City Attorney prohibited him from continuing with SEDA.

Brandt Herndon, SEDA vice president of business development, reported 35 active projects, 28 comprising new business attraction and seven involving business retention/expansion.

Of the active projects, 16 involved manufacturing and seven were related to warehouse/distribution centers, he said.

“Since the last board meeting, we have seen eight new projects, including three expansion possibilities,” Herndon said.

The World Trade Center Savannah board, meeting prior to the SEDA gathering, observed its first anniversary Tuesday, with board chair Eric Johnson announcing that the group was in the process of selecting its non-Chatham County members.

“We’re over the hump. I’m proud of the work we’re doing,” he said, adding “You ain’t seen nothing yet.”

Brynn Grant, SEDA vice president for competitive positioning and interim director of the SEDA-affiliated World Trade Center, detailed WTC Savannah’s recent accomplishments, which include working with the state department of economic development as they participate in another trade show in Istanbul, Turkey.

“We won’t be there, but we were able to set the Georgia Economic Development folks up with contacts we had already made to make their participation more productive,” she said.

At home, the WTC Savannah staff is working on a “value grid” that ranks countries through data designed to advise companies looking to do business internationally.

Jerald Mitchell, director of SEDA Innovations, discussed ways in which SEDA can help start-up companies, including mentoring and identifying venture capital sources.